NEW YORK -- Greg Robinson didn't have to wait long to hear his name called in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Robinson was taken with the No. 2 pick by the St. Louis Rams, a spot widely projected by draft analysts over the past couple of months.

Now, after a whirlwind draft process that saw Robinson rise from a little-known prospect to the top left tackle in the draft and selected second only to South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney, who went No. 1 to the Texans, the third-year sophomore can begin preparing to take over as the Rams' left tackle from Day 1.

"That's actually something I'm looking forward to," Robinson said. "I watched a few of Auburn's spring practices, and it just felt weird not participating. I really want to get back to football. I miss it a lot."

The Rams have long been projected as a landing spot for Robinson despite head coach Jeff Fisher's incredible streak. In 20 years as a head coach, Fisher has never taken an offensive lineman in the first round.

Beyond Fisher's familiarity with Auburn players -- his son, Trent, played safety at Auburn for three years -- the pick represents a perfect marriage of need and talent.

St. Louis has struggled to protect Sam Bradford at quarterback, in part because of problems at tackle. Left tackle Jake Long tore his ACL and MCL late last season, leaving his ability to begin the season in doubt, and even though the Rams re-signed tackle Rodger Saffold, Saffold can play guard.

The Rams brought Robinson in for a visit and worked him out in Auburn in the months leading up to the draft.

Robinson's ascendance to the top of the first round largely happened all in the past year.

Despite starting 11 games as a redshirt freshman, Robinson, a Louisiana native who was displaced for two years by Hurricane Katrina and lost his father in April 2012, wasn't generating any buzz in draft circles when the 2013 college football season began. In that sense, he flew under the radar for the first half of the season.

But NFL teams couldn't ignore the way Robinson played. Transformed by a combination of increased power and much better technique, Robinson developed into the nation's most dominant offensive lineman over the summer, the kind of imposing, explosive blocker who rarely enters the draft.

"There's nobody in this year's draft, or last year's draft, or in the last eight drafts, that has the power that he has," McShay said in a teleconference last week. "He's the most dominant point-of-attack player in the offensive line that I've ever evaluated."

The knock on Robinson leading up to the draft was that he was an unfinished product, still raw in the passing game.

Robinson's a fast learner. After making the giant leap from average SEC starter to top-5 pick in one offseason, the big 6-foot-5, 332-pounder has elite NFL size and athleticism, and he will learn quickly under an NFL offensive line coach.

For Robinson, the sky's the limit. Marshall Faulk, the Hall of Fame running back and current NFL analyst, told the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday morning that if he had to pick the prospect most likely to end up in the Hall of Fame, it'd be Robinson.

"He's going to make a great pro," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said at Radio City shortly after Robinson was picked. "I really believe his best days are ahead of him. Good person, tough, he's got everything it takes."

Coming off the board at No. 2 makes Robinson the highest Auburn player to be drafted since Cam Newton went No. 1 in the 2011 Draft.

And it offers hope for the rest of Auburn's offensive line, a living testament of how much a player can improve in one offseason.

"It just seemed like yesterday, we were out there trying to get each other better, now he's about to make millions in '14," his potential successor, Shon Coleman, said. "I know that he'll break out."